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Friday, October 4, 2013

My friend Joe Harper, an attorney, wrote an excellent piece
explaining the difference between a democracy and a republic. As a follow-up to
last week’s post,The Problem With "We The People,"I’m posting an abbreviated version of Joe’s piece, with his
permission:

Democracy
is from the Greek demos, meaning people, and kratos, meaning government. The literal translation
is government by the people, and this
certainly has great appeal. Under a democracy, the majority rules without
restraint of a given body of law. Indeed the law is whatever the majority say
it is.

Under a
republic, the law is more than just politics, and is not dependent upon which
group has the most power. The law is consistent, predictable, reasonable, and
seeks truth and justice.

Why
does it matter if the United States is a Republic or a democracy? A simple comparison
between the two demonstrates why. Democracies are inherently unjust and
unstable and have always ended in tyranny. John Adams even warned:
"Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and
murders itself. There never was a democracy
that did not commit suicide."

With
the increasing polarization and viciousness in politics, and the overt
campaigns for more power illustrated by the constant concern over which party
will gain or keep control over the House and Senate, it would appear that
though our Founders and our Constitution established a Republic, we may have
already degenerated into exactly what the pols and pundits already say - a
democracy. How did we get here? By failing to adhere to the fundamental truth
that there is a right and wrong. Failing to abide by the Biblical principles
upon which our Nation was founded. Allowing God to be purged from our legal
jurisprudence and replacing Him with the concept of evolutionary operations and
moral relativism.

We know
from history that unless confidence in the law is restored, democracy will
continue to overtake the republic and soon collapse it into tyranny. Tyranny is
already showing signs as individual rights are beginning to be infringed upon,
starting with religious liberties. Confidence can be restored, however, but it
must start with a return to values and principles that created confidence and
stability in the law in the first place. This means reversing the purge of God
from our legal system.

If you are an American, and you pledged your allegiance "...to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God...," did any of your teachers explain what you were pledging your allegiance to? If you're a teacher, there's a teachable moment here.